All the pretty things ;)

Our neighbor John has been growing dahlias for 40 years. I remember them from my childhood and I've loved that John has given us a bouquet of them each fall. They're such a beautiful flower! Well this spring he decided it was too much work to continue growing as many as he has in the past and he gave away many dahlia bulbs. When he offered me about thirty of them I was thrilled! Not only is it such a gift, but it's even more special to me because it's getting to carry on John's dahlias.
Here are some of our first blooms:

Selah likes to keep them on her nightstand, and I love to have them by the kitchen sink.

This time of year everything is so beautiful! The pears and bulb flowers, the rich colors of the produce, the sweetness of the grapes... I sometimes find myself in the garden singing, "It's the most wonderful time of the year..." ;)

I picked some of the pears at the top of the tree in the orchard and I loved how they were more sun-kissed, and we also smiled at how big a few of them were.

Childhood + summer = magical.

My mini white pumpkins are growing and looking so cute!

Selah requested to harvest a big sunflower and dry it out so that she could have the seeds. :)

Ben got his cast off and we were so, so thrilled it happened before we went to Sunriver! Ben was able to swim and have a great time (pics of that in the next post.)

The first order of business for Ben when we got home from the doctor was taking a bath. He was such a happy boy soaking in those suds! Five weeks was a long time to go without. :)